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I am looking forward to celebrating International Women’s Day, or Festa Della Donna, tonight with friends at the Gloucester House. We’ll be honoring Mayor Romeo-Thekan!

I was curious about the yellow flower that is traditionally given to women on International Women’s Day and it is the mimosa flower (Acacia dealbata), which has become a symbol of female solidarity. Immediately following World War II, it became popular in Italy to give the flower for La Festa Della Donna because of its cheery hue, sweet scent, and abundance in blossoms at that time of year.

International Women’s Day began as a day of memory and protest, following a tragic event that took place in 1908. One story of its origins purports that in early March of that year, the women textile workers (mostly Italian) at a New York City factory went on strike to protest the abhorrent working conditions. The owner blocked all of the exits to the factory and set the building on fire. The 129 workers trapped inside all died.

Grab some Reeses Pieces, it’s a gorgeous day and will be a memorable night to see ET on the HarborWalk Summer Cinema jumbo screen. Get there early, bring a picnic dinner or take out from the yummy vendors. You could have boiled lobster in the rough at Gloucester House or Topside and still see the screen! The pre-movie family tailgate is true community. Community Development has worked with Rob Newton from Cape Ann Community Cinema and Aurelia Nelson and the North Shore 104.9 team to make it festive. Thanks to Pop Gallery for helping to bring ET tonight and Gloucester Stage for The Lego Movie.

Don’t forget: if you haven’t yet, better hustle and SEARCH AND TRACE

There are many fun and free activities on the Gloucester HarborWalk. One of the great games dispersed throughout the entire HarborWalk involves a search and trace game at each story moment post. Children and adults will want to find all (or most) of the story moment posts and trace the unique symbol found on each one. These icons are on the binding of each story moment post. Take a pencil or crayon and make a rubbing of the symbol directly into the squares on these special print outs or onto your own tracing paper. You may need help holding the paper while tracing so bring a friend!

Here are files for printing these sheets. You can also find them on www.ghwalk.org or print outs at the summer cinema series movie nights or Stage Fort Visitor Center.

PRIZES

There is a special prize whenever a child brings or sends along a completed “Hunt on the HarborWalk” ANY TIME to Mayor Kirk at City Hall! City hall is located at 9 Dale Avenue.

For the HARBORWALK SUMMER CINEMA SERIES: bring your completed sheet to the August 20th feature, “The Lego Movie”, for a special awards ceremony. Prizes will be awarded for collecting at least 10 icons and a special prize for collecting 20 icons. A special HarborWalk Lego Movie Night grand prize will be awarded to anyone who collects every icon!

Join Cape Ann Big Band in its 3rd Year of working with the Gloucester House in effort to raise money for both Veterans and current members of our Armed Forces!

Spend an evening dockside with the Cape Ann Big Band. Friday, July 19th in the Gloucester House’s Café Seven Seas.
Doors at 6:30,
Concert at 7:00.
Tickets are $15 each To purchase tickets, please call Connie Condon at 978-283-4098 or The Gloucester House at 978-283-1812
Proceeds benefit the Major Fred W. Ritvo Veteran’s Center and their efforts to aid today’s veterans.

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The well-attended Mayor’s “I Love Gloucester Breakfast” at the Gloucester House this morning was followed by remarks and an informative Q and A. The overarching theme of the morning’s event was of working together to build Gloucester’ s future. It is always a pleasure to be around the Mayor because of the integrous manner in which she is managing the city’s business and because of her infectious love for Gloucester. Thank you Mayor Kirk for all you have done, and are continuing to do, to create a better Gloucester for all of us!

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There simply isn’t a better way to celebrate Veterans Day than to support the people who serve in the military and the memorials we build to those who “gave the last full measure of devotion”. Lily Linquata sent this notice about the event that is from 3-6pm next Sunday. If you’ve never seen the Cape Ann Big Band live, this is your perfect opportunity!

Join Gloucester’s WWII Veterans Memorial Committee and friends on this upcoming Veteran’s Day — Sunday, November 11, 2012 — for a Cape Ann Big Band concert to benefit the perpetual care of Gloucester’s WWII Memorial on Kent Circle. Starting at 3pm and going until 6pm, tickets are $20 each. Tickets are on sale now at The Gloucester House or via Connie Condon.

Cape Ann Big Band frequently sells out so don’t wait too long to get your tickets for this sure-to-be excellent event. As there will be no reserved seats, it is also important to be on time. Doors will open at 2:45.

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Check out these nice bright lobster buoys decorating the Gloucester House! They are always so friendly and accommodating when we bring our son and really have the most delicious, reasonably-priced food.

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New Year’s Rockport Eve 2008 Recovery Benefit will hold a “Spring Fling” Dance Party for all ages Saturday from 8 to 10 p.m. at Rockport Congregational Church’s function hall. The Fundamentals will perform classic and oldies rock ‘n’ roll from the ’60s through the ’80s. Admission is $10. Or, one can bring a donation of non-perishable food for the Cape Ann Food Pantry, for a $5 admission. Light refreshments will be available. For advance tickets, call 978-546-9038. Tickets also on sale at the door.

Roland Merullo, noted writer will speak

Rockport Public Library will host best-selling author Roland Merullo at the next session of its Meet the Author series on Wednesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. He will discuss his writing career and his latest work, “The Italian Summer: Golf, Food, and Family at Lake Como.” The book captures a summer spent with his family enjoying the golf courses and cuisine of the Italian countryside. Merullo combines his two great passions, travel and golf, in a humorous and poignant look at Mediterranean life. Merullo grew up in Revere. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and Brown University, where he earned a Master’s in Russian language and literature. His essays have appeared in the New York Times, Outside, Yankee, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Travel and Leisure Golf and Links. Merullo also worked for the U.S. Information Agency in the former Soviet Union, served in the Peace Corps in Micronesia, has done carpentry, and taught creative writing and literature.

“The premise is this: What if Shakespeare has been haunting theaters for the last few hundred years? What might he say to a modern audience about his life, his work and the different ways his plays have been treated over the centuries?” said Turner. Using factual information and 18 pieces from various Shakespearean plays, he will take the audience on a tour of Shakespeare’s world and works.

“Even people who don’t like Shakespeare love this show. It is loaded with theater stories and behind-the-scenes tales from Elizabethan times right up to the present,” he said.

The event will benefit the Tiger Tots Daycare Program. For reservations and information, call 508-942-9938.

Eco film festival

Essex County Greenbelt and the Cape Ann Farmers’ Market are partnering with Cape Ann Community Cinema to present a week-long eco film festival to commemorate Earth Day. The “Green Day” series will feature thought-provoking films — some startling — about the environment and people working to create a sustainable future. The series culminates on Earth Day, April 22, with an evening gathering, appetizers and the film “The Real Dirt on Farmer John” at 7:15 p.m.

Sunday, April 19, “No Wonder to Compare: The Marvel of Cetaceans” at 1:30 p.m., plus the bonus short “Disneyland Dream,” a 1956 home movie entered into the Library of Congress in 2008. Filmmaker Robbins Barstow, co-founder of the Connecticut Cetacean Society, will present both. The festival also will present a rare promotional film of Pleasure Island, Wakefield’s own “Disneyland Of The East.”

On Monday, April 20, “The Garden” at 7:15 p.m..

Tuesday is “Burning the Future: Coal in America” at 7:15 p.m.

The finale is next Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.

‘The Chalk Garden’ in the Pines

Theater in the Pines presents “The Chalk Garden” by Enid Bagnold from Thursday, April 23, through Sunday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m. at Spiran Hall on Broadway in Rockport. The piece is a comedy, mystery and drama about a mysterious governess who turns an eccentric English household upside down by her insistence on truth. The actors include Jonathan Arnold, Lori Hahn, Allie Lees, Justine Curley, Martin Ray, Barbara Brewer, Bernadette Cruz, Anne Parsons, and Sarah Clark.

Stardust returns

“The Way It Used to Be,” the monthly night of dinner and dancing hosted by the musical group Stardust, is on tap for the Gloucester House on Friday, April 24. The evening features a classic night of dining and dancing. Ed Carfano and Stardust host the event, featuring music from the 1930s to the 1950s. The band’s initial goal was to bring this musical era back to life for the seniors of Gloucester, and the first events drew rave reviews.

The event once again will feature instruction in salsa dancing by Tina’s School of Dance from 6 to 7 p.m. Stardust will play from 7 to 10 p.m., and a buffet dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m. The Gloucester House restaurant is located off Rogers Street at Seven Seas Wharf. To reserve tickets, call 978-283-1812.

LyricFlutes in Concert

LyricFlutes will performn Sunday at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of The Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport, 4 Cleaves St. The program will include works from the flute repertoire by Vivaldi, Kuhlau, Pleyel, Tcherepnin, Moyse and Saito. Admission is $10. Reception to follow. LyricFlutes is a newly formed group dedicated to performing music composed for the flute in solo, duet, trio and quartet forms as well as in partnership with piano and organ. Since the group’s recent debut, audiences have responded enthusiastically to rarely heard virtuoso compositions from the baroque through modern periods. Members of the group include Jean Antrim, Fran Pierce, Joanne O’Connor, Valerie Roche and Jeanette Tausanovitch. Jocelyn Chaparro will assist on the piano and organ.

Hospital displays watercolors

Eight of Joan Jarmin’s floral watercolors are on display at the Pat Maynard Memorial Gallery in the lobby of Addison Gilbert Hospital during April. Jarmin studied at the DeCordova Museum School and the Montserrat School of Art in Beverly. She is an original member of the Cape Ann Watercolor Painters.

Spring Poetry Fest

In observance of National Poetry Month, the Rockport Public Library will hold a Spring Poetry Reading event with seven Cape Ann poets on Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. Ten members of the public will have an opportunity to join the local writers in reading their work.Poets Ray Bentley, Amy Dengler, Dodie Gibbons, Ruth Maassen, Gloria Masterson Richardson, Carol Seitchik, and Suellen Wedmore will each read three or four of their poems. Time will be allotted for ten other “open mike” poets to read a one-page poem on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is free and open to the public. The library is handicapped accessible.

Museum presents more Lowe slides

In conjunction with the exhibition “Charles A. Lowe Photos: Gloucester 1975,” Cape Ann Museum is presenting a second slide show, with commentary by Peter Watson, former editor of the Gloucester Daily Times, on Saturday at 11 a.m. To reserve a space, call 978-283-0455, ext. 11. This program is free. Many images in the show are ones that Lowe considered his favorites. The slide show also features images not included in the slide show program on March 21. The Lowe exhibit will be on view through May 31. A catalogue of Lowe images accompanies the exhibition. Reproductions of photos from the Charles A. Lowe archives are also available for purchase. The museum offers free admission every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon through the end of May. Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester. The museum is wheelchair accessible. For more information call 978-283-0455.

RAA Spring Photo Show

The Rockport Art Association is holding it annual Spring Photo show, which runs through May 5. There is a public reception Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. The event is free to the public. The $100 Gerald R. O’Brien Memorial Award of excellence in photography, went to Eoin Vincent for his work “Early Morning Light.” Honorable mentions went to Jeff Trubisz for “Fog Banks and Seastorks,” Richard Seeley for “Moose Shake” and Pegg Harold O’Brien for “Colors” Rockport Art Association is at 12 Main St. For information, call 978-546-6604.

Talk about nesting water birds

A talk about nesting water birds of the Essex County Islands takes place April 22 featuring the field ornithologist of the Essex County Ornithological Club, Jim Berry. Berry’s favorite activity is the study of birds, other wildlife, and plant communities in the context of their ecological relationships. He has been active in the Nest Record Program of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology for 30 years, has participated on breeding-bird-atlas projects in seven states, and has led field trips for various groups most of his adult life. The event takes place at 7 p.m. downstairs at Cruiseport Gloucester at 6 Rowe Square in Gloucester. Free admission. For more information call, 978-281-8079.

Marut returns to Cape Ann

The paths of Jesus and Buddha meet through the teachings of world renowned Buddhist monk, the Venerable Sumati Marut, who will give community talks in Essex from April 28 to 30. The event, “The Spiritual Teachings of Jesus and the Buddha” takes place from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Essex Room at 27R Main St. (behind Woodman’s and on up the hill.) in Essex. Marut will lead this unique series of three interfaith teachings that will focus on the three primary components of these two spiritual traditions: renunciation, compassion and wisdom. For more information, visit http://www.aci-capeann.org.

Pioneer poetry

An evening of poetry, photography and song inspired by a collection of poems that record the voices of 19th century pioneer women as they and their families homesteaded the Okanogan Valley of Washington state will be the subject of a Gloucester Lyceum program tonight at 7 at Sawyer Free Library. The free event, “Oh How Can I Keep On Singing: Voices of Pioneer Women,” celebrates National Poetry Month. The program will be performed by Kathleen Adams, Barbara Braver, Geraldine Herbert and Kristina Martin and introduced by Jill Carter. Photographs of the Okanogan Valley taken by noted, local photographer Susan Oleksiw during her visit to the area last summer will be on display in the Matz Gallery.

Cape Ann Museum invites students, ages 6 to 10, to a special vacation week program. Visit the museum April 21 to learn more about Gloucester’s ties to the Azores. Visit the museum April 23 to learn more about life in and around the salt marshes of Cape Ann. Each session will include an examination of art, artifacts and photographs from our collection, as well as an art activity. This is a drop off program from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Cost is $5 per child. To register, call 978-283-0455, ext. 12, or e-mail courtneyrichardson@capeannmuseum.org.

Museum announces guided tours

Cape Ann Museum will provide weekly guided tours led by docents trained in teaching the public about the museum’s art and history collections this month. The tours are “Highlights of the Collection,” the Captain Elias Davis House, and the Fitz Henry Lane Collection. Tours are free with the price of admission. Tours for April and May are as follows:

Highlights of the Collection: Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Visit http://www.capeannmuseum.org for further details. The museum also provides tours to private groups through advance reservation. To book a private tour, contact Jeanette Smith at 978-283-0455, ext. 11.

Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-283-7000, ext. 3445 or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.

Beginner Spring Birding at Halibut Point April 19

Rockport – Beginner Spring Birding will be held Sunday, April 19, from 8-10 a.m. at Halibut Point State Park, sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations and The Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Stroll around Halibut Point, learn the basics of birding, history, and hear the symphony of some of our area’s spring birds. Meet at Halibut Point parking area. Admission is free.

For more information, call Halibut Point State Park 978-546-2997 or The Trustees at 978-921-1944 ext. 4013.

Activities for kids abound during vacation week-

Looking for something to do with the kids while they are out of school next week? Wellspring Cape Ann Families is offering a number of free events.And there plenty going on at the YMCA, the Cape Ann Museum, and Art Haven. Check out the schedule here

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Free GMG Gloucester Sticker

As long as supplies last if any GMG folks want a bumper sticker but can't drop down the dock, just send a self addressed and stamped envelope longer then 7 and a half inches and I'll drop one in the mail for you.

Send the self addressed and stamped envelope to the dock at 95 East Main St Gloucester Ma 01930 care of Joey (put my name in big letters to make sure it gets to me)

Free GMG Gloucester Sticker

As long as supplies last if any GMG folks want a bumper sticker but can't drop down the dock, just send a self addressed and stamped envelope longer then 7 and a half inches and I'll drop one in the mail for you.

Send the self addressed and stamped envelope to the dock at 95 East Main St Gloucester Ma 01930 care of Joey (put my name in big letters to make sure it gets to me)